Building tile or slab



May 3 "1927.

g. s. FREUND BUILDING TILE 0R SLAB Filed May 15. 1922 Patented May 3, 1927 p 3 UNITED STATES SPATE NT OFFICE.

OHERI s. FREUND, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, nssrenoza r0 IEEDERAL onMENr'rILE com- PANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs,

A CORPORATION OI ILLINOIS.

BUILDING TILE on SLAB."

\ Application filed May 15,

My invention ,relates to building structures embodying tiles or slabs and it has special reference to improvements in tiles or slabs that are made from concrete, cement, clay or like substances and which are adapted to be supported on purlins, rafters or beams employed in buildings for constructing walls, floors, ceilings, roofs and the like.

More particularly my invention refers to cement tiles or slabs which are adapted to be supported on purlins or beams of light construction to form a roof or fioor for a building and which areprovided with ample 5 bearingsurfaces in contact with said supporting members to insure the tiles or slabs being retained intact after having been once placed into position.

In building structures employing tiles or slabs, and particularly in connection with roof constructions, it has heretofore been common practice to employ I-beams as the the tiles or slabs have rested. The controlling reason for employing an I-beam as a purlin was becauseof the extreme width of the flange formed on the ,I-beam and upon which the abutting ends of the end-to-end dispositioned tiles or slabs might rest. In the event that these tileswere-subiected to expansion or contraction or other movement the supporting flange of the I-beam, by

reason of its extreme width, precluded the tile from being released or displaced from' the supporting I-beam and dropping down,

from the roof. 1

Althoughthe aforementioned I-beams are entirely successful, from the'structural point of view, the use of such I-beams renders the cost of a building construction embodying them very excessive, since suchI-beams are not necessarily subjected to unduly heavy loads, but are selected primarily because of the width of their flange upon which the tiles or slabs may be supported. In, the interests of economy other expedientshave been proposed as substitutes for such I- beams, these expedients, while embodying sufficient strength tosupport the weight of the'roof structure 'or any loads that maybe imposed upon them in service, lacked a Sllll'l?" ciently wide bearing surface for supporting the tiles-or slabsunder all circumstances, particularly when the tiles or slabscontracted or moved to any appreciable degree I flange of substantially narrow width so. that 1922; Serial mteassw.

which are less expensive to manufacture and considerably less in weight while, at the same time, channel lrons are of suiiiclent strengthto resist any weights or bending moments to which they are likely to be sub jected when employed for this purpose. By

7 substituting channel irons for I-beams as the purlins or. beams in a, building structure, I am ableto decrease considerably the cost ,of the building without sacrificing any need ed strength in the support-ing members. It is known,-of course, that the laterally extending flange formed on a standard channel iron is of considerably less width than the flange comprised in a standard I-beam of approximately the same standard class. Therefore, it is necessary .to provide means for insuring that the tiles or slabs will be properly supported'at their ends upon the purlins or supporting members upon which fl anges formed on channel irons under all circumstances and to this end my present invention is directed.

One of'the objects of my-invention is to vprovide a building construction comprising tiles or slabs at their end portions, the channel irons being ofrsuch dimensions only'as are required to withstand the loads or bend- .ing moments that are likely to be'imposed thereupon.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a tile or slab which may be economically and readily manufactured and which, of itself,-embodies means to insure its being retainedin' fixed position upon a supporting when a roofing structure comprising such I tiles is assembled, the tiles or slabs will be permanently maintained 1n the r positions upon such narrowrflanges.

For a better understanding of the nature,

v scopeand characteristic features of my in vention, reference may be had to the following descr ption and the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a broken perspective view of a roof or floor structure formed of. tiles ,-or slabs constructed in accordance with my iinvention,*the building structure shown in Fig. Q1 likewise being comprehended within the terms of "my invention; a

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown-1n Fig.- 1;

Fig. 3 IS a view, partially 1n elevation-and partially in section, of thestructurc of .Fig.

2 and takenralongtheline 33-0f- Fig.2;w

and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that oflFig. 1:

like, said purlins or beams-being made from channel iron sections of standard form. The purlins l and 2 are set gupright so that their laterally extending flanges 3 and 3? are exposed. and serve as supporting surfaces for the superimposed tllesorslabs 4t, 5, 6, 7, S

and 9. Thetiles 4, 5, and 6 are placed end- .to-end, the abutting end. portions of the adjacent tiles resting upon the flanges 3and 'Since thebflanges 3 and 3*, are otcomp'aratively narrow width, and because the maximum bea-rlng surface allotted to each of the abutting end portions of the tiles 1S limited to one-half of the width or these flanges, it is necessary to provide means for increasing to a maximum the bearing surface or area of contact for each of the abutting tract, their end portions, normally bearing .,;upon the flanges 3, will be retained in supporting relation upon the flanges.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 each of the tiles 4,.5 and 6 is provided with aperipheral; laterally extendingflange .10, the portions thereof formed at the ends of the tiles rest.

ing upon the supporting flanges or bearing surfaces 3 and 3.

in said tile. Thistongue' 11 is shown as being centrally positioned-in the end of the tile. The abutting end of the adjacent end to-endtile is provided with a recess '12 that is alined with andsubtendsthe tongue portion 11 in order to receive the same. The

opposite end of the .tile 5 is likewise pro- 5 vided with a tongue, portion 11 which is similar to the tongueportion 11 formed in the'tile 4. The tongue 11 of the tile 5 is received in a recess'lfl formed in the-abut;

ting end of the adjacent tile 6.

It isto be observed,therefore, that the tongue-and-recess joints 1112 and 11 12 are supported, respectively, upon the rela- I said flanges.

extend over the flanges3 and 3 for a dis tance in excess of oneqh'alt of the width of For instance, the tongue- 11 of the tile 4 provides a bearing sin-face for the tile 4 upon the flange 3 that is considerv One end portion otthe tile 4 is provided with a longitudinally pro jecting tongue 11 thatis integrally formed ably in excess of one+hfaltof the width of theflange 3, as shown-particularly in F1 2 -and, similarly, the projections and 13 filio-rmed'on-.the-tile 5 by-rca-son Ofglll lh ii ntcrmediate 1126888512, provide bearing surfaces for the tile 5 upon the flange 3 that are conslderably greater than one-half of the width of the flange 3, 'A similar construction obtains with reference to the tiles 5 and 6.

Therefore, when the tiles 4-, 5 and 6 con tract, they will nevertheless be supported upon the'flanges 3 'and3, sincegthe tongues l'l-and 11 ,"in the first instance, will retain the corresponding endsof thetiles 4 and 5 in position and the projections 13 and 13, as well as 13 and 13, in the second instance, willretainthe tiles 5 and '6 in position. Also, by reason of the tonguei-and-recess joints formed between the abutting endsot thetiles, the-tiles willrnotbe readily displacechafterhaving been once positioned in a roofstructure.

As shown in'Figs. 2 and'3, the tile 5 is providedjalong its two sides with reinforcing bars 14-, these bars being embedded in the The peripheralflange as-shown in Fig. 3. ends 15 0f the reinforcing bars ltterminatc in the tongue portion ll ot the tile 5 and 7 thus lend considerable strength thereto ends of the tiles so that when the tiles con- The ends'lfi of the reinforcing bars 14- may terminate ingthe projecting portions 13 and .13 either remote from therecess Ber-may be bent, as. shown at 17 and 17, lIl'OlClGl that they may project closely to the periphery of the recess'12. V

InFig. 4, I; have shown my invention ap-' plied to flat'tiles'or slabs. In this modification, the slab 18 is similar inall respects to theitiles 5 "of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 excepting thatit-is devoid of the peripheral fiangelO. However, the slablSis provided at one of its ends with a recess portion 12 and at its opposite end with a. longitudinally projecting tongue 11", these several end'portions of the-slab 18 coacting with the: abutting ends of adjacent slabs to constitute tongueand-recess joints that are severally support- "ed upon the relatively narrowflanges 3 and 3 'of the channel irons and supportingmemhers I and '2.

From, the foregoing, it will be apparent that a considerable saving is effected by substituting channel iron supporting members for :the wellknown and common 'I-beam members that-have heretofore been exten sively employed. At the same time, the bearing orcontact surfaces for the slabs or tiles. superimposed upon the channel-iron purlins, are considerably"enhanced by rea- .SO110f'1tl1G tongue 'and-recess joints which 'I have invented for supporting the" abutting stood that other modifications may be made' load supporting tiles unconnected and di posed end to end for spanning said purlins and having abutting ends'resting on said flanges, said tiles being formed of reinforced concrete or thelike and having a substantially rectangular conformation and also having a projecting reinforced integral tongue at the edge of one of its load supporting ends, and a complementary recess formed in the edge of the opposlte one of its load supporting ends, said tongues being of a thickness equal to the thickness of said edges but greater than the thickness of the central area of the tile, the entire load supporting edges including the tongues resting directly upon the purlins and adapted to provide sufficient bearing surface thereon when the same are separated by the contraction of said tiles.

2. A floor construction comprising a plurality of parallel and spaced purlins having relatively narrow floor supporting flanges, load supporting tiles disposed end to end for spanning said purlins and having abutting ends resting on said flanges, said tiles being formed of reinforced concrete or the like and having a substantially rectangular conformation and also having a projecting reinforced integral tongue at the edge of one of its load supporting ends, a comple- V mentary recess formed in the edge of the opposite one of its load su porting ends, the

entire load supporting e ges including the tongues resting directly upon the purlins, and reinforcing means within the tile'extending from either side of the recessed portion around the perimeter of the tile and terminating within the tongue portion.

3. A floor construction comprising a plurality of parallel and spacedpurlinshaving f relatively narrow floor supporting flanges, load supporting tiles disposed endto end for spanning said purlins and having abutting endsresting on said flanges, said tiles having a projecting tongue at the edge of one ofthe load supporting ends,and a complementary recess formed in the opposite edges of the load supporting ends andpro-i viding a projecting portion on each side i of same, said tongue and projecting'portions being adapted to rest on the purlins and' provide suflicient bearing surface thereon when the same are separated by-the' con-' traction of said tiles.

43A flooriconstruction comprising a plu- V rality of parallel and spaced purlins having relatively narrow floor supporting flanges, load supporting tiles'disposedend to end for spanning said purlins and having abutting ends resting on said flanges, said tiles 7 having a projecting'tongue at the edge of i oneof the load supporting ends, and a complementary recess formed in the opposite edge of the load supporting ends and providing a projecting portion on each side of same, said tongue and projecting portions 7 being adapted to rest on the purlins and to be freely separable to provide suflicient bearing surface thereon during the expansion and contraction of said tiles.

scribed my name. 1

CHERI s, 'FREUND.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub- 

